IPL 2024 auction: KKR script history with Mitchell Starc's purchase
What's the story
Kolkata Knight Riders made some significant signings in the Indian Premier League 2024 auction. They scripted history with the signing of Mitchell Starc, making him the most expensive signing in the tournament's history.
They also made some valuable additions to their roster improving their pace-bowling and wicket-keeping options heading into the new season.
KKR had a poor outing last season, finishing seventh.
Context
Why does this story matter?
KKR have missed the playoffs for the last two seasons and desperately needed a change to replicate their glorious past. Hence, they brought back their former winning captain, Gautam Gambhir as their new mentor from LSG.
They released many major players including Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, and Tim Southee to name a few.
They went big on Starc and did reasonable business thereafter.
Retained players
KKR's major retained players ahead of the auction
Shreyas Iyer will return as captain after missing last season due to injury. Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer slammed 474, 413 and 404 runs last season respectively.
Varun Chakravarthy, who was KRR's highest wicket-taker last season with 20 scalps, was retained as well.
KKR veterans Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have also been retained along with openers Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Purse
KKR had a massive purse of Rs. 32.7 crore
KKR had a massive purse of Rs. 32.7 crore heading into the IPL 2024 auction.
They were not involved in any signings during the trade window.
List of retained players: Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Jason Roy, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, and Varun Chakaravarthy.
Signings
Here are their signings from the IPL 2024 auction
KKR's signings from IPL 2024 auction: KS Bharat (Rs. 50 lakh), Chetan Sakariya (Rs. 50 lakh), Mitchell Starc (Rs. 24.75 crore), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (Rs. 20 lakh), Ramandeep Singh (Rs. 20 lakh), Sherfane Rutherford (Rs. 1.5 crore), Manish Pandey (Rs. 50 lakh), Mujeeb Rahman (Rs. 2 crore), Gus Atkinson (Rs. 1 crore) and Sakib Hussain (Rs. 20 lakh).
Squad
A look at the KKR squad for IPL 2024
KKR squad for the IPL 2024: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Sunil Narine, Jason Roy, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Rahman, Gus Atkinson, and Sakib Hussain.
Takeaways
Here are the key takeaways
KKR desperately needed an overseas pacer and they broke the bank on Starc.
They were also short on fast bowlers and domestic wicket-keepers and hence, the signings of Sakariya and Bharat made sense.
KKR added Rutherford as Russell's backup while picking Mujeeb as Narine's cover.
They added depth to their pace attack by snapping up Atkinson while Pandey will bring experience to their batting.